Maybe not quite the pinnacle of Hitchcock's career but definitely in the top five.
The Birds (1963)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 40
Fresh: 38
Rotten:2
Average Rating: 8/10
Consensus: Proving once again that build-up is the key to suspense, Alfred Hitchcock successfully turned birds into some of the most terrifying villains in horror history.
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Horror/Suspense
Synopsis: In THE BIRDS, Alfred Hitchcock's heart-pounding follow-up to PSYCHO, the director couples a tone of rigorous morality with dark humor to create a thriller that begins as a light comedy and ends as an apocalyptic allegory. Tippi Hedren... In THE BIRDS, Alfred Hitchcock's heart-pounding follow-up to PSYCHO, the director couples a tone of rigorous morality with dark humor to create a thriller that begins as a light comedy and ends as an apocalyptic allegory. Tippi Hedren (Melanie Griffith's mother) carries the picture in her first film role ever, embarking on a career as an icy-cool leading lady. Loosely based on a Daphne du Maurier story and a Santa Monica newspaper account, "Seabird Invasion Hits Coastal Homes," THE BIRDS also features groundbreaking special effects that, in 1963, surprised and delighted audiences. Wealthy reformed party girl Melanie Daniels (Hedren) enjoys a brief flirtation with lawyer Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) in a San Francisco pet shop and decides to follow him to his Bodega Bay home. Bearing a gift of two lovebirds, Melanie quickly strikes up a romance with Mitch while contending with his possessive mother and boarding at his ex-girlfriend's house. One day, during a birthday party for Mitch's younger sister, a flock of birds attacks the children in what seems to be a random incident. In fact, it signals the beginning of a massive avian assault on the residents of the town--a mysterious assault that no one can explain...and from which no one may come out alive. [More]
Starring: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette
Starring: Tippi Hedren, Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette, Veronica Cartwright, Charles McGraw, Ethel Griffies, Ruth McDevitt, Malcolm Atterbury, Lonny Chapman, Tracy Scoggins
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Screenwriter: Evan Hunter
Producer: Alfred Hitchcock
Reviews for The Birds
It's fierce and Freudian as well as great cinematic fun, with ample fodder for the amateur psychologist following up on Hitch's tortuous involvement with his leading ladies.
Perhaps only a director of Hitchcock's caliber can make such a fowl story fly.
Feels like it was made by a brilliant filmmaker who simply felt challenged by the enormity of the task. In that regard, it's close to 100 percent successful.
Hailed as one of Hitchcock's masterpieces by some and despised by others, The Birds is certainly among the director's more complex and fascinating works.
Beneath all of this elaborate feather bedlam lies a Hitch cock-and-bull story that's essentially a fowl ball.
Alfred Hitchcock's most abstract film (1963), and perhaps his subtlest, still yielding new meanings and inflections after a dozen or more viewings.
This masterpiece is one of Hitchcock's purest forays into cinema; it's such a complete piece that it even gets by with two mediocre actors.
What sets The Birds apart from the other films in Hitchcock’s incredible ten-year run between 1954 and 1964 is its remarkable chilliness.
Underestimated at the time, this is Hitchcok's last undisputed masterpiece, and a more complex film than Psycho
The Birds is most notable though for turning something completely harmless into an incredible menace -- all with absolutely no explanation.
Latest News for The Birds
September 26, 2008:
Exclusive: Brand New The Children Photos and Director Introduction
Writing exclusively for RT, director Tom Shankland presents the first gallery of stills from the set of his twisted child-zombie movie The Children and takes us in to the... More...
October 19, 2007:
Naomi Watts Joins Bay's Birds Flock
Finally, something truly terrifying has come out of Hollywood. Make sure you're sitting down, and don't say we didn't warn you -- this news is not for the faint of heart. More...
January 15, 2007:
Producer Thinks Naomi Watts is for "The Birds"
It's remake heaven. Platinum Dunes producer Brad Fuller has his sights on adding "The Birds" to his slate -- which already includes "The Hitcher,"... More...
October 18, 2006:
Naomi Watts to Star in Bay's Version of Hitchcock's "Birds"?
Apparently Naomi Watts is itching to become the Queen of the Horror Remake. She's already done "The Ring" and "King Kong" -- and now comes word that she... More...
Related Forums for The Birds

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